


Comforting Touch

by TheFoolsYouSee



Series: Stress and Comfort [2]
Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Anxiety, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fluff, I had another tough time at work so y'all are getting another chapter, Spooning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:48:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26424382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFoolsYouSee/pseuds/TheFoolsYouSee
Summary: Amity has a tough day and just needs someone to hold her. Then as the pressures of school continue to build, Luz finds a way for the stressed young witchling to take back some control.
Relationships: Amity Blight/Luz Noceda
Series: Stress and Comfort [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2013691
Comments: 88
Kudos: 923





	1. Chapter 1

The bedroom door closed behind Amity and she leant back against it, exhaling slowly. Each foot reached back and kicked the shoe off the other; first the right and then the left. Her hand lifted up to unbutton her cowl from over her uniform and it dropped to the floor. She padded across the carpet in her socks, leaving the discarded items of clothing by the door, and went over to the writing desk by the window. She tapped at the white orb that rested upon it and it started sounding out the first in her comfortingly familiar playlist of songs. Next she went over to the closet; she kept the largest, firmest pair of pillows in its top shelf, and retrieved them both. The pillows were placed on top of the covers on one side of the bed, and Amity lay down next to them, putting the lower one between her knees and clutching the other to her in her arms, sinking her face into it with a mighty sigh.

Today had been rough.

* * *

It had started happily, walking to school holding Luz’s hand. She’d rushed out of Blight Manor in such a hurry that she’d forgotten her lunch, but at that moment she had only been focused on her girlfriend. Every few days Amity would have a sudden spike of excitement in her chest out of nowhere as she remembered that yes, this was real. She was dating the girl she liked, and the girl she liked liked her back. She had practised taking deep, quiet breaths to keep these emotional spasms hidden, the only symptom that snuck through being an involuntary squeezing of Luz’s hand as the human girl carried on with whichever conversational tangent she’d plunged down. Amity had been so distracted by her own dreamy thoughts about her girlfriend that she genuinely hadn’t noticed that they’d entered the school until Luz had stopped outside one of the classrooms.

'Oh,' Amity said as she was tugged back. 'I forgot you have Potions ‘Till You Die this morning.'

'Yeah,' Luz smiled. 'I’ll see you in Abominations this afternoon.'

'Okay.'

Amity swung Luz’s hand from side to side as she took one step back at a time, gradually letting her fingers release their grip before their hands eventually came apart.

'Okay, bye,' she grinned, and turned to make her way down the corridor, hugging her books to herself and humming.

She reached her locker and tickled it in the right spot, and the teeth in the door lifted open to reveal a neatly organised mouth cavity. Amity deposited two of her books and held onto the one she needed for her next lesson.

Someone slumped roughly against the locker next to her, which gave a grunt of discomfort; Amity looked over into the smirking face of her former minion Boscha.

'It’s cute.' Boscha glanced down at her nails casually. 'The way you’re trying to impress the human.'

'Yeah, Luz is great.' Amity stroked her finger down the locker and its mouth closed again. 'Maybe you should try getting to know her instead of bullying her.'

Boscha scoffed and shook her head. 'Whatever. Just promise me that when you’re over your little crush, you’ll go back to being interesting.'

Amity frowned at the other girl. She thought she’d made herself clear before.

'Boscha, I’m not just pretending to be someone I’m not so that Luz will like me, I’m ashamed of how I used to behave, and if you’re going to carry on acting that way then we can’t be friends.'

Boscha’s smirk disappeared, and there was a flash of real anger in her eyes.

'You always thought you were better than me!' she snapped. 'But you’re not. Whenever you can’t handle something you drop it and move on because you can’t deal with failure. Just like with Willow, just like being Grudgby Captain and Grom Queen. As soon as it gets difficult you’ll do exactly the same with Luz and you’ll come crawling back to us.'

Amity could feel an anger building inside her to meet Boscha’s. She was about to blurt out a series of equally harsh words when she saw something lying behind the anger in one of the other girl’s three eyes, and she realised what was really fuelling the the outburst.

'I’m sorry we’ve drifted apart,' Amity said. 'But if you miss me, then try acting like someone I’d want to be around.'

She walked away before Boscha could retort and smiled to herself as she heard her locker loyally blowing a raspberry at the bully, who gave an offended gasp.

Amity didn’t really relax again for the rest of the morning; Boscha’s words kept coming back to interrupt her focus on her classes. She hadn’t always quit when things got difficult, had she? She was ashamed of how she’d pushed Willow away, but that had been to make sure she hadn’t been excluded from Hexside, hadn’t it? And she’d ended up injuring her teammates in her final Grudgby game, she couldn’t possibly have remained Captain after that. Or should she have stuck with it and made things up to her friends? Found other solutions? Her distracted train of thought was only broken by the grumbling of her stomach, and she muttered a curse to herself for having left her lunch at home.

After her morning lessons were done she spent the lunch break with one of the student committees, trying to busy her mind with the job of allotting rooms for the different clubs; the Human Appreciation Society seemed to be at war with the Human Fantasy Club over unauthorised use of artefacts, and were occupying the other’s regular classroom in protest. Mediating the tense negotiations between two sets of equally stubborn nerds plus having to rush back to her locker afterwards to get her anatomy textbook had left Amity even more on edge. But the sight of Luz waiting outside the Abomination lab as she approached made her muscles untighten a little. As they hugged, Amity leaned a little more of her weight onto Luz than usual.

'You okay there?' Luz asked as the witchling’s face sank into her shoulder.

'It’s just been a tiring morning.'

'Scoop?' Luz offered.

Amity pulled herself back and gave Luz a small smack on the arm, giggling. 'Not here!' she whispered, and they went in.

They took their seats on one of the laboratory benches. Amity usually had to fill in some of the gaps in Luz’s Abomination knowledge as the class went, but she didn’t mind that. Each track had been designed with lessons that supported each other and the new idea of some students flitting from track to track with each class hadn’t been fully figured out yet. But Luz was eager to pick up any new bit of magical knowledge she could, and Amity got more than a little happiness from being able to teach the human what she’d learned.

The diminutive Professor Viscous was carried into the room by his seemingly-permanent Abomination. In all her classes with him, Amity had never seen him without it and wondered if he could even support himself on his tiny legs.

'Today we will be getting our hands dirty,' the Professor announced, drawing a circle in the air with his finger. Trays flew up from his desk and out to each of the long tables in front of the students’ benches. Amity peeked into the tray that had landed in front of them and wrinkled her nose; it was full of small, purple organs.

'Ooh, slimy!' Luz grabbed one and started happily running it between her fingers.

'These are Obedience Glands,' Viscous continued as he was carried down the aisle between the benches. 'An integral part of the makeup of any Abomination. Take the scalpels and try to cut out the individual valves to get familiar with them.'

Amity placed her textbook on the table between herself and Luz and flicked it open to a diagram that matched the glands. They both took a small knife each from inside the tray and started to carve.

The flesh of the gland was tough, and Amity kept cutting directly through the valve of each one she tried to dissect. She knew she could slice it perfectly if she used magic, but the Professor had specifically said to use the knives. A frustrated little snarl came out of her mouth as she cut too far again, and she flung the mutilated tissue onto the small heap of discarded purple strands that had piled up next to her on the table. A tutting sound came from beside her ear.

'Sloppy work, Miss Blight,' Viscous said as he peered over. 'Perhaps you should spend a little less time memorising textbooks and more time honing your scalpel technique.'

'Yes Professor.' Amity felt her stomach knotting. For most of the semester she had managed to avoid his criticism, along with the tense, panicky feeling it induced in her. She kept her eyes down, trying not to picture the faces of the other students looking over at the so-called top student and whispering to each other.

'Whereas you, Miss Noceda, appear to be a natural surgeon!'

Amity looked over at Luz, who had a perfectly dissected gland sitting in the palm of her hand. She turned to Amity and held it out with a proud smile.

But the human’s smile suddenly faltered when their eyes met, and she drew her hand back. Amity realised that she’d been clenching her jaw and that her brow had been drawn into a glare directed at Luz. She looked away and threw her knife back into the tray a little more forcefully than she’d intended, and it landed inside it with a loud clatter. She inhaled and ran her goopy hands over her face, trying to control her frustration and direct it away from Luz. Out of the corner of her eye she saw her girlfriend turn meekly back to start cutting another gland, and realised she’d just come across as even more upset. Perfect, she thought. _Just the thing to cap off a miserable day._

The two girls didn’t speak another word to each other for the rest of the lesson, and when it was over they walked out of the lab together in silence. Amity could still feel the knot in her stomach, now both from Viscous’s words and the tension between her and Luz. She felt like she should say something but knew that right now her voice would make anything she said come across as bitter, so when Luz asked if she was okay she just nodded.

'Professor Viscous was pretty harsh,' Luz continued sympathetically. 'He doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who’s into positive reinforcement.'

'I should have been able to do it, though,' Amity said, the frustration in her voice directed at herself which felt much more acceptable. 'I’ve read that chapter so many times.'

'Had you ever actually done it before?'

'No.'

'Then you just need practice. You’re Amity Blight! I’m sure you’ll master it before long.'

'Yeah, but _you_ -' Amity stopped herself just in time. _Don’t take it out on her_ , she told herself. _Don’t make your issues her problem_.

'It’s okay for it to take time to learn something new,' Luz said. 'You don’t always have to be the one who’s best at the thing.'

 _Yes I do_ , Amity thought immediately, and the words from her own mind surprised her. It was like the idea had always been there beneath the surface, both driving and torturing her, and had only now been consciously acknowledged. She tensed further as she realised how ridiculous an idea it was, how there was no way she could _always_ be on top, that she’d never be happy if there was anything at all she wasn’t perfect at, that Boscha had been right and she had always run away from things where she hadn't been the best.

'Just forget about it for now,' Luz said, apparently sensing something going on behind Amity’s silence. She put an arm around the witchling's shoulders and started to twiddle with the point of her ear, but Amity leaned away from her a little, her mind still churning.

'Luz, stop.'

'Come on, where’s my smile?' Luz started to dig her fingers into Amity’s stomach in an attempt to tickle her.

' _Luz!'_ Amity snapped, pushing the other girl off her. The human's eyes were wide, startled. After a couple of seconds of silence Amity walked quickly away down the corridor. She was burning with anger at herself for letting her emotions take control once again, but wanted to get away before she made things any worse.

 _Running away again_ , she thought to herself. The knot in her stomach tightened even further.

* * *

Amity groaned into her pillow as she remembered the events of the day. She didn't know what she was going to say to Luz when she saw her again; every apology she had to make was confirmation of the mistakes she kept repeating, and she could feel it chipping away at her.

She heard her bedroom door open and her mattress sank a little as someone sat down on the edge of her bed.

'You realise we can all recognise the songs you play when you’re sad, don’t you?' Emira’s voice came from behind her.

Amity gave a noncommittal grunt and heard her sister sigh.

'I suppose I should ask you what’s wrong.'

The younger girl lifted her head so that her face was no longer covered. 'I got stressed today and took it out on Luz and I feel really bad.'

'Oh. Well, that was nice while it lasted. At least now she’ll see she can do so much better than you.'

Amity took the pillow from between her knees and thwacked Emira with it. The other witchling grabbed it off her and lay down on the bed, putting the pillow under her head.

'What was stressing you out so much?'

'I couldn’t do something right in class… and also Boscha said some stuff that got to me. She said I run away from all my problems, and then I ran away from Luz after I snapped at her so she’s right. Now I’m going to feel stressed until I see her tomorrow and apologise.' Amity hugged her remaining pillow tighter to her chest. 'I thought I was meant to be happy now. Why do I still keep getting so angry?'

There was no reply, but Amity felt a hand land on her head and give her hair a comforting stroke. Then her stomach gave a loud growl, and she felt Emira sit up.

'I _knew_ that was your lunch in the kitchen!' the older witchling scolded. 'Have you eaten anything today?'

'No.'

Emira huffed and the mattress shifted again as she stood. Amity heard her sister's footsteps walking away and the bedroom door close. She was gone for a long time, and Amity could hear her talking on the raven downstairs. _So much for familial concern_ , she thought. Eventually she heard the bedroom door open again.

'Mittens,' Emira sing-songed. 'I’ve brought you something.'

Amity turned over on the bed to face her, but froze mid-roll.

Luz was stood in her doorway. The brown-haired girl had changed from her Hexside uniform back into her cropped blue and white hoodie, denim shorts and leggings, and she was holding a sandwich on a plate. Emira was stood behind her and gestured redundantly to the human, before stepping back and closing the door on them.

Amity sat up on the edge of her bed. 'I’m sorr-'

'Shh.' Luz put a finger to her lips and held out the plate to her.

Amity took it and spend the next couple of minutes silently chewing on the soft bread. When she was finished she put the plate on her bedside table, stood and went up to Luz. She put her arms around the other girl’s waist, holding her tight, and felt Luz’s arms hug her back.

They stood there for a while, Amity slowly feeling the tension that had built up inside her seep away into the warmth of the body she was holding close. Eventually she was basically leaning against Luz.

' _Scoop, please,_ ' she mumbled into Luz’s hoodie. Her girlfriend bent down and reached one arm under Amity’s knees, and with a small grunt of effort lifted the witchling up in her arms. Amity put her own arms around Luz’s neck and let the rest of her body hang limp as she was carried back to the bed.

She felt herself be laid back down on her side on top of the covers, and the arms supporting her moved to wrap around her torso as the human lay down behind. Amity scooted backwards into the crook of the arc that Luz’s body had made, their legs intertwined and Amity felt a kiss on the back of her head through her hair. She lifted one of Luz’s hands to her mouth and kissed it, before clutching it to herself. She inhaled deeply, savouring her girlfriend's scent, and then exhaled as her last taut muscles finally relaxed. She tugged the arm she was gripping closer over her like a blanket, pulling the comforting weight of the other body in her bed against her back.

She only realised she had dozed off when she saw how dark it had suddenly become, and she registered the vibration of Luz’s light snores against the back of her neck. After another minute of enjoying the feeling of being held, she nudged Luz’s hand. The other girl gave an undignified snort as she awoke, and sat up looking blearily around.

'Oh. Hi,' Luz smiled sheepishly.

'Hi,' Amity smiled back. She sat up too and pulled Luz into another hug. 'Thank you. I’m going to do my best to stop getting so stressed over things.'

'And I'll try to be less pokey when you're going through it,' Luz promised. 'I wish there was more I could do to make it easier for you.'

'You do make it easier. I’ve never felt as peaceful as I do right now, with you.' Amity turned her head and kissed Luz on the cheek.

For now, her mind was at rest. She knew there’d be times when the whirling, panicking thoughts would return, but she filed a little piece of this memory away for those moments. She felt a new kind of strength in herself as she did so - a strength to stand her ground.


	2. Chapter 2

Amity was sat at her desk reading her textbook. Tomorrow was the exam for her current Abomination module, and there was still a particular Mental Parallelism theory that she was struggling to fully grasp. It was the last topic she felt shaky on, but the idea of her mind going blank if she saw a question on the subject in the exam paper made her already start to feel panicky. That was why Luz was currently sat in her lap.

The human was sat facing Amity with her feet hooked around the back legs of the chair, the two girl’s chins resting on each other’s shoulders. The witchling took a moment to listen to Luz’s thumbs tapping away at her phone before focusing on the open book hovering above the desk again. _The Abomination will reflect the subconscious plane if it is not fully aligned with the conscious mind._ But did that mean the _subconscious_ had to be aligned with the conscious mind, or that the Abomination did?

Amity felt the panic spike again and buried her face in Luz’s hoodie, inhaling its scent and using it to centre herself. She wasn’t in the exam room yet, she reminded herself.

 _But soon you will be_ , another voice in her head replied.

She clutched Luz close, and heard the other girl stop typing.

‘How’s it going?’ the human asked.

Amity just gave a pained groan in reply, and felt a hand come up to stroke her hair.

‘Remember, letting your brain rest before an exam is important too.’ Luz said.

Amity gave a deep sigh. She really felt like she had to conquer this topic tonight, but the words on the page were twisting together into gibberish, and the more she tried to untangle them the more tense she felt and the less information was going into her brain. She waved a finger decisively; the book closed and lowered onto the desk, and she leant her head back as Luz lifted hers too. Amity leant up and kissed the other girl, letting the rush caused by the sweet taste of her lips drown out the thoughts of tomorrow. She gave the legs wrapped around her a pat and the human clambered off her so they could both stand and stretch. However Amity then leant her head back on Luz’s shoulder and twined their fingers together.

‘It’s okay, I can stay,’ Luz said.

‘Thank you,’ Amity whispered, and they went over to the bed.

They lay on their sides holding each other tight, Luz’s head on the pillow and Amity’s lower down, resting in the crook of the human’s neck. The green-haired girl wrapped both her legs around one of Luz's and tried to let her body sink into the softness both of the bedcovers beneath her, and of the other girl enveloping her.

But her brain wouldn’t stop buzzing. However nice this moment was it would eventually end, and in a matter of hours she would be in the exam room and the panic at not knowing one of the topics would make her forget the things she _did_ know. _What was she doing?_

Amity sat up again. ‘No, I’m sorry, I can’t stop.’

Luz sat up too and put a hand on the witchling’s arm. ‘Amity, you’re exhausted. I don’t think you’re gonna be able to take anything else in.’

‘Well I’m not going to be able to sleep until I do,’ Amity huffed. She tried to stand up from the bed, but Luz kept hold of her arm.

‘You’ve been working so hard,’ the human girl said with concern. ‘You’ve done more than anyone would reasonably have to do.’

‘It’s doesn’t matter how hard I’ve worked if it doesn’t get done.’

‘But you’ll burn out.’

‘Fine, maybe I will, but I’ll have done my best.’

‘It’s not your best if you’re doing damage to yourself.’

Amity felt frustration rise inside her. She couldn’t find the words to explain exactly _why_ Luz was wrong; she just knew that she had to keep working.

‘Look,' she snapped. 'You said you wanted to help me, and this is what I need to do, so if you’re done with your stupid, corny mantras –’

‘Okay, _stop_.’

Amity froze; it was the firmest tone Luz had ever used with her. She nervously looked up at the other girl, who was giving her a look that was almost a glare.

‘I know you get stressed about this stuff,’ Luz said, ‘and I’ve tried to be understanding, but you act like this every time school gets tough and it’s become something we need to talk about now. I get it if you can’t go into things tonight, but I’m not going to stay if you’re going to keep pushing yourself like this and then taking it out on me.’

Amity lowered her eyes. There was a knot inside her that grew a new tangle every time she had a new test or project to work towards, and it felt far too big to be approached. But she knew she would spiral if Luz left right now.

‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered. ‘Please stay.’

‘Alright.’ Luz moved over so they were sat next to each other on the edge of the bed. ‘I want to understand where this comes from, why your self-esteem is tied up in your performance so much.’

Amity kept her eyes on the floor, unable to bring herself to respond.

Luz allowed the pause to linger before speaking again. ‘If you don’t want to talk about it with me, then I think you still need to talk about it with someone.’

‘Well, _obviously_ I don’t want to talk about it with you.’

‘Why not?’

Amity looked up at Luz’s hurt expression and felt her frustration boil over at the other girl’s confusion. ‘Because it’s _my_ problem, and I shouldn’t be putting my problems on you!’

‘But I want to help you, that’s why I’m here.’

‘Yeah, and that’s why I came up with the thing on the chair, so you could help me in a way we both like.’ She felt nervous suddenly. ‘You do like that, don’t you?’

‘Yes, I like it very, very much,’ Luz confirmed. ‘But I also just like helping you.’

Amity felt like she was pushing up against a barrier, trying to force the simple fact that she was meant to be self-reliant through Luz’s obstinate supportiveness. She took a deep breath, trying to put her thoughts in order.

‘If I’m always complaining to you about things then I’m being a bad girlfriend, aren’t I?’

‘I think there _is_ such a thing as a relationship that’s too one-sided,’ Luz acknowledged, ‘but we’re also meant to help and support each other. And when you keep things bottled up inside then they don’t get fixed and you end up snapping at me, and that’s not nice either.’

Amity’s heart sank and she felt guilty tears well up in her eyes.

Luz took hold of her hand. ‘There’s lots of lovely, amazing things about being with you,’ the human continued. ‘I care about you so much, and that’s why it hurts me when I see _you_ hurting. Please, tell me what’s going on in your head when you get stressed.’

Amity clutched Luz’s hand and sniffed, waiting for her breathing to steady before she could speak.

‘I feel like I have to do well or… I don’t even know what, I just feel like I _have_ to.’

‘If something happened where you didn’t do well, how do you think you’d you feel then?’ Luz asked softly.

Amity felt the already-welling tears flood over as she imagined getting her exam score back. ‘Like it would prove that I’m not good enough, just as a person.’

She failed to keep the sob inside. She leant her head on Luz’s shoulder and the human put her arms around her.

‘It’s like I know I’m not good enough,’ Amity choked out, ‘and everything I do is to try and hide that.’

Saying the words out loud gave her a strange kind of catharsis. Luz remained silent and let the green-haired girl release her tension through her sobs.

‘And I _am_ doing my best,’ the witchling said when the spasms had subsided, her voice still breaking. ‘I _am_. But I still feel like I’m just treading water and I’ll slip under at any second.’

She took a couple of deep, shuddering breaths, focusing on the sensation of Luz’s fingers stroking her hair. The human seemed to be considering her words before she spoke.

‘With your parents pushing you, I get how you must feel that way,’ she said. ‘But also, you’re the top student, you got chosen to do presentations to impress inspectors and be Grom Queen and Grudgby Captain. Don’t those things help?’

‘They do for a bit,’ Amity admitted, sniffling again. ‘But then that feeling goes, and I have to chase something else, because…’

She fell silent as she ran her mind over a thought, trying to phrase it correctly.

‘If…’ she lifted her head from Luz’s shoulder and sat up as the words came. ‘If I’m not being praised,’ she uttered with realisation, ‘then I must be doing badly.’ She put her face in her hands. ‘Oh, that’s so messed up.’

Luz rubbed a hand thoughtfully over Amity’s back. ‘I’ve had to start being a teacher showing Eda how to use glyphs now,’ she said, ‘and one thing I’ve noticed is that she does loads more right than she does wrong, but I was pointing out the ones she did wrong and not saying as much when she did them right.’

‘Yeah,’ Amity nodded, wiping the tears from her cheeks. ‘That makes sense, cos you’ll mention it when she has to change something, but if she doesn’t have to change anything it must be hard to remember to tell her she’s doing well.’

‘Exactly, and I try to make more of an effort now to give praise, but I guess not everyone does.’

Amity took another deep breath, a swathe of her inner tension gone after her crying spell. ‘I should probably not base my opinion of myself so much on what other people think. But I don’t know how to do that.’

She felt a lot smaller somehow, her feet dangling off the bed above the floor. She felt Luz take her hand and turned to her with a tired smile.

‘Thank you for putting up with such a pathetic mess of a girlfriend.’

Luz tutted. ‘Well the first thing you can do to feel better about yourself is to stop saying things like that. My mom says that when you say negative things about yourself out loud, your brain hears it and starts to believe it.’

‘She sounds good, your mom,’ Amity smiled. Then she leaned forward for a kiss, but Luz pulled back.

‘Hang on,’ the human said, holding up a finger. ‘First you’ve got to say something nice about yourself.’

Amity grimaced. ‘Luz, I’m really tired.’

‘Too bad.’ Luz gave her a firm look. ‘Come on, something that you like about yourself that’s not to do with doing well at school.’

Amity huffed. ‘Uh… I like that I have such a nice girlfriend.’

Luz shook her head. ‘No, it has to be about you. And you’d better hurry up, cos I want my kiss too.’

Amity gave an indignant laugh. She looked down at her bedcovers, thinking.

‘I… I’m good with kids,’ she said. She felt awkward openly giving herself praise, like it was cheating somehow, but she pushed the feeling aside. ‘The ones who I read to at the library all really like me.’

‘There, see!’ Luz grinned, and leaned forward for the promised kiss. Amity closed her eyes as she took in the bittersweet mix of the salt left over from her own tears mixing with the taste of Luz’s lips.

‘Now,’ Luz declared as they parted again, ‘I’m gonna spring that on you now and again, and you’d better have a list ready ‘cos I don’t like to be kept waiting.’

Amity laughed. She didn't feel as small anymore, but did feel lighter. ‘Thank you,’ she said, gazing into the other girl’s kind, beautiful brown eyes. ‘Thank you for helping me in the ways I really need.’

Luz nodded. ‘I can’t promise that things won’t ever go wrong. But I can promise that if they do, you’ll be okay. I’ll be there to make sure you are.’

They hugged again, and slowly toppled down back onto the bed. As the witchling rested her head back in the crook of Luz’s neck, she noticed that the buzz in her brain was gone and idly wondered if she’d be able to take in that chapter of her textbook now. But it was late, and she was tired; it was time to rest.

* * *

Amity finished her answer to the question on Organic Plasticity, and glanced at the clock on the wall. She still had ten minutes left, which should be just the amount of time she would need for the final question.

She’d woken that morning feeling more refreshed than she could ever remember, and had enough time after breakfast to go through the chapter from the previous night and sort out the confusing clauses, finally pinning down the central theory. She’d then deliberately left her textbook at home so she wouldn’t be tempted to do any more cramming before the exam, and had walked into the classroom with a confidence and a clear head. Whatever the paper held, she’d known she would be a match for it.

The green-haired girl turned over to the back of the exam booklet, running through the key sentence she’d memorised that morning, and looked down for what would surely be the question on Mental Parallelism.

But the back page was blank. Amity frowned and rubbed the final sheet of paper between her fingers to see if there were any hidden final pages stuck together, but there weren’t any. She flicked back through the other questions, scanning them for any mention of the topic that had nearly brought her to breaking point.

The exam hadn’t even mentioned it.

Amity stared down at the booklet on her desk. Then she started to giggle, quietly at first, but soon had to put her hand over her mouth to stifle the uncontrollable laughter. Professor Viscous’s Abomination was carrying him down the aisle between the desks as he invigilated the exam, and the tiny man glanced over at Amity's spluttering.

‘I take it, Miss Blight, that you have finished?’

She could only bring herself to nod, biting her lip to prevent another outburst.

‘Then you may exit the exam and stop distracting your classmates.’

‘Thank you sir,’ Amity managed to say, and quickly darted out of the room, leaving her exam booklet on her desk.

After closing the door behind her, she ran a few steps further down the corridor before she had to stop and lean against the lockers, shaking with laughter.


	3. Chapter 3

The last bell of the day finally screamed and Amity felt a surge of relief. There hadn’t been a test, but this had still been the hardest week of school she could remember. Each day she had put in all her usual hours, gone home to continue her schoolwork until it was time to crawl into bed, then woken up early the next day to get an extra hour in Hexside’s library before her first class. Even though it had just been a lot of sitting at desks reading and writing, she still felt physically exhausted. But it would all be worth it.

Amity had managed the impossible and convinced her parents to let her go on a weekend camping trip with Luz, Willow and Gus to Lake Lacuna. The condition had been that she finish all her current school assignments so that she wouldn’t fall behind by losing the weekend, and she’d had to put in every spare minute to fulfil her promise. But now it was Friday and school was over. She could go home, pack her things and get to bed early, spending those brief last few seconds of consciousness looking forward to a weekend with her friends. Swimming, games, lying back against Luz’s chest to doze off under the afternoon sun, reliving old memories with Willow, giggly late-night conversations around a campfire, with no pressures hanging over her. Amity’s weariness was already turning to excitement as she followed the other students trickling out of-

‘Amity, could I have a word?’

_Pretend you didn’t hear him. Just keep walking._

But Amity’s more sensible side retained control, although she let out a small, tired sigh before turning around. ‘Yes, Professor?’

Professor Viscous was dangling in the firm grip of his beigey-pink Abomination, fixing Amity with the slightly less firm stare he reserved for her over his other students. ‘Well done for handing in your composition assignment so early. I shall look forward to going through it.’

‘Thank you,’ Amity nodded. She’d found herself so caught up in that particular piece that she’d written a whole extra section about the effectiveness of titanbone as a catalyst, which hadn’t been strictly necessary.

‘I remember you applied for the Academonic Decathlon,’ Viscous said. ‘It was a tough choice between you and Boscha.’

Amity nodded again. At the time she’d been livid at losing out, but now she was glad she hadn’t had the additional pressure on top of everything else she’d been dealing with lately.

‘Unfortunately she’s had to drop out at the last minute,’ Viscous continued. Apparently she’d double-booked with a family holiday, so we’re going to need you to fill in.’

‘Oh.’ Amity felt the beginnings of a smouldering frustration at her old friend’s flakiness, but was too tired to let it flare up any more than that. ‘What would it involve?’

‘The project is a weather detection system that can predict the appearance of painbows. There’s a few example schematics you can look at, but as Boscha gave us such late notice the turnaround time will have to be pretty quick. We’ll need a working model by Monday.’

A cold bolt shot through Amity’s chest. ‘ _This_ Monday?’

‘That’s right, Viscous confirmed. ‘I’ve spoken to your other teachers and they all say you’re well ahead in their classes. I’m sure taking the weekend to work on this won’t put a dent in your grades.’

Amity couldn’t even bring herself to stammer. Boscha had pulled out of a commitment so she could go and have fun while Amity had worked hard to stay on top of her responsibilities, and now she was the one having to pick up the other girl’s slack. It was the encyclopspedia definition of unfair. But if her parents found out she’d refused a chance to get extra credit…

No. Amity thought back to the conversations she’d had with Luz about burnout and clutched to the inner strength her girlfriend had helped her to build. She had a responsibility to herself too.

‘I’m sorry Professor,’ Amity said, shaking her head. ‘I’m not available. I already have plans this weekend.’

‘Can you not rearrange them? The Decathlon has a very strict timescale.’

‘No, I can’t,’ Amity replied with all the resolve her tired frame could muster. ‘I’m afraid you’ll have to find someone else.’

Professor Viscous’s expression became a little narrower. ‘Amity, I chose you for this because you’re reliable, and I know you’d be able to finish it in time. If Hexside doesn’t present a completed project then it would really discredit our reputation as a school. Is there _any possible way_ you’d be able to move things around?’

Amity felt her determination wavering. Of course it was _possible_. She _could_ cancel her plans with her friends and work all weekend, but she was choosing not to. It was the right choice, and she knew that, but Viscous’s imposing stare was eroding her fortified core back to its old brittle state.

‘…I’ve been planning this trip with my friends for a while,’ she said, her voice not quite as firm as she’d tried to make it.

Viscous tutted. ‘I know you have ambitions to join the Emperor’s Coven, and they only accept the most committed. Frivolous excursions are not going to help you on that path.’

The cracks in Amity’s resolve were widening. She desperately tried to remember Luz’s words about the importance of not pushing herself too far, and the strength she’d felt at them, but Viscous was still staring her down.

‘I…’ Tears welled in Amity’s eyes as she felt her justifications slip from her grasp. Anything about how she’d earned a break, _deserved_ a break, suddenly felt shallow. Boscha had already been a letdown, and Amity began to feel if she didn’t take on what the other girl had dropped she’d be just as bad. The growing inevitability started to crush more tears from her, and her defences collapsed.

‘ _Professor, I can’t keep going like this_ ,’ she said with a break in her voice, anguish radiating out from the admission of weakness. ‘ _I’ve been working so hard_ _and it feels like it’s never enough. My parents are always pushing me to do more, and it’s always me who has to pick things up when other people don’t do them and… I just can’t keep going. I can’t.’_

Amity sniffed, trying to rebuild enough confidence to look up at Viscous again. When she did, his brow was still creased, but there was some contemplation in his expression.

‘I see,’ he said as Amity took out a handkerchief to dab at her nose. ‘You’re really finding this difficult?’

Amity nodded. ‘If I keep working non-stop then I’m going to collapse and then I won’t be able to do _anything_.’

‘Yes, that would be objectionable.’ Viscous stroked his chin as he looked over the sniffling girl. ‘I think perhaps we should look at easing your schedule somewhat.’

‘Really?’ Amity asked, new hope in her chest.

‘Yes, we can’t have Hexside’s top student slipping. After you’ve handed in the Decathlon project, I’ll set up a meeting with Principal Bump.’

Amity’s heart sank down past her shoes into the earth. She’d said no and it hadn’t worked, and the idea of continuing to say no seemed just as hopeless and like it would make her come across as stubborn and childish.

‘I know that you value keeping up your school’s reputation just as much as your own,’ Viscous said. ‘Isn’t that right?’

Amity looked at the tiny man hanging in his Abomination’s arms. She’d glared down and belittled students twice his size before without even a flicker of nerves, and she burned with frustration with herself for not being able to summon that assertiveness now. But he was a figure of authority giving her an instruction, and if there was one thing Amity’s parents had instilled in her, it was obedience. Her exhaustion from the long week and the trying conversation left no more energy to resist.

‘ _Yes, Professor,’_ she said quietly.

‘Excellent!’ Viscous clapped his hands together happily. He drew a spell circle and summoned a thin binder of papers. ‘Everything you’ll need is here. I look forward to seeing what you come up with.’

Amity compliantly took the binder and looked down at it, this tangible evidence of her lost weekend with her friends, and the lost moments with Luz that there would be fewer and fewer of as the time approached when the human would have to go home. This evidence of her failure to stand up for herself.

She waited until the wet tramp of Viscous’s Abomination had left the classroom before she went round to an obscured corner behind a squat bookcase, sank to the floor, and cried.

* * *

Amity held up the bulky contraption, lining it up with the sun. The little dial began to spin exactly as it should, but somehow that just made her feel worse. She sighed, blinking her bleary eyes, and lowered the heavy device to rest it on the rail in front of her; the highest balcony of Bonesborough Library offered the perfect altitude for the Painbow-Detector’s perfect mechanical parts to operate perfectly to deliver a perfect reading. She’d worked all day Saturday and then all through the night until daybreak again, fastidiously honing each component until they all operated smoothly. She’d been given the job of making Hexside look as good as possible through this project, so that’s what she’d done. Even as she’d seethed through the creation process, her heavy head threatening to nod forward into slumber, she hadn’t been able to help fine-tuning the schematics to make them just that little bit more efficient. It was like whatever power that kept her in line in the presence of her teachers and her parents still had its hands on hers, moving them in the choreographed, flawless motions of the Top Student. Choice wasn’t even a factor.

The worst part about pulling out of the camping trip had been how understanding her friends had been. She’d seen the pain in Luz’s eyes, but her girlfriend had known not to put additional pressure on her to go back to Viscous and try to withdraw from her commitment. After confirming on the guide Amity’d been given that the Decathlon rules barred help from any outside parties, the others had pledged to postpone the trip until they could all go together. But Amity felt growing dread at the idea of having to convince her parents all over again, and at another back-breaking period of getting ahead of her schoolwork; indeed, completing her assignments early had simply given her teachers the opportunity to pile more things on her. Despite Viscous’s agreement to discuss reducing her workload with Principal Bump, by managing to complete this extra task Amity had proved that she _could_ take on more work if she really wanted to, and do it well. Refusing to do so now would just be laziness.

The project wobbled a little on the railing and Amity quickly clutched it tighter. It was a long drop below, and a sudden gust of wind could mean all of her hard work undone. She considered the consequences of such an accident; a gruelling weekend wasted and her perfect-pupil image seriously damaged.

In fact, her reputation could be ruined.

Possibly forever.

She pulled a finger away from under the project’s base. And then she pulled back another. One by one each finger was retracted so that the project balanced ever more loosely on the railing, and she was left with her two index fingers underneath its base, barely keeping it in place. She felt the weight of the machine, relishing the sensation of how it wobbled right on the very edge, not quite tipping over.

Then she gave her fingers an impulsive flick.

Amity leaned forward and watched the project plummet down to the cobbles below. It smashed quietly into the stone, myriad pieces scattering themselves in a splayed pattern of mechanical debris. Then there was silence, as if nothing in the world had changed at all.

‘Huh.’

* * *

Luz hurried through the crowd, resisting the urge to stop and apologise to each demon she pushed past, until she reached the edge of the gathering. She followed the collective gaze up towards the spire of the library and groaned.

‘Oh boy,’ Eda said as she caught up with Luz and looked up too. ‘I _said_ it would only be a matter of time before she snapped.’

Luz stared grimly at the figure clutching at the spire above, and then walked forward.

‘Stay back now,’ a town guard commanded, holding out a gloved hand in front of her.

‘I’m her girlfriend,’ Luz said, but the guard kept a firm hand on her shoulder.

‘Don’t worry, we’ve got everything under control,’ he insisted, and looked over his shoulder at the two other masked guards scaling the outside of the library with grappling hooks.

But then there was an echoey pounding, and a large purple shape crawled round from the other side of the building, gripping thick fingers into the brickwork. It growled at the terrified guards and reached over to grab them both in a gelatinous fist. The Abomination yanked them from their grapple-lines and flung them away over the rooftops, their surprised screams fading away.

The guard on the ground balked and glanced nervously back to Luz. ‘…You say you’re her girlfriend?’

‘Yeah, she is,’ Eda said, clambering onto her staff as Luz hopped on behind. ‘We’ll take it from here, Captain ACAB.’ Then she quickly flew off before the guard had time to work through the acronym in his head.

They rose towards the Abomination that was still clinging to the side of the building, and it glared at them.

‘Hey buddy,’ Luz began appeasingly. ‘We just want to talk to Amity. We’re worried about her, and we want to know what she’s going through.’

The Abomination looked Luz up and down, and its glare softened when it recognised her. But instead of moving away, it harrumphed and turned its head to aim its cheek at the floating pair. Luz glanced sheepishly at Eda, who rolled her eyes but manoeuvred the staff a little closer to the gloopy giant; Luz leaned towards it and planted a little kiss on the wet cheek being proffered.

The toll paid, the Abomination gave Luz a shy smile before crawling away across the building to resume its patrol. Luz wiped the purple residue from her face and they resumed their journey upwards.

Amity was halfway up the spire, gripping it between her legs and holding on with one hand while leaning out to peer through a pair of steampunky-looking binoculars. Eda brought the staff to a hover a few metres away, and Luz swung her legs round to sit side-saddle.

‘Amity?’ she called out gently. ‘What are you doing up here?’

‘I’m looking,’ Amity replied, not bringing her eyes away from the binoculars.

‘Looking for what?’ Luz asked. Amity lowered the binoculars and turned to them; Luz was surprised to see a gloriously happy smile on the other girl’s face.

‘For where we’re gonna put our house!’ she replied excitedly.

‘Our house?’ Luz frowned

‘Yeah! I’ve figured it all out!’ Amity brought her other arm round to hug the spire, somewhat dreamily. ‘I’m going to drop out of school, and me and you are going to live in a little cottage in the woods together!’

‘Oh. Okay.’ Luz took in the manic way Amity was grinning. ‘…D-Did everything go alright with your project?’

‘No! And it’s fine!’ Amity started to giggle. ‘I broke it on purpose and I’m not going to do it again!’

‘You don’t have to drop out of school just because of one project,’ Luz said.

‘I know, but I’m going to anyway,’ Amity replied with a determined nod. ‘You only need school to get a job, but instead we’ll get our cottage and we’ll live there and… and we’ll just make out all the time! It’ll be great! We don’t need jobs, we can be like Eda!’

‘Hey, I have a job!’ Eda interjected in an offended tone. ‘I sell potions!’ She shook her head. ‘You Gen-Hexers…’

Amity’s expression wavered a little, but she shook off the doubts and went back to her dreamy smile. ‘I was so wrong,’ she said, leaning forward to speak in a hushed, conspiratorial tone. ‘I thought things mattered, but really nothing matters! Everything’s made up and systems of authority are fake!’

‘Wait, I’ve changed my mind, let her finish,’ Eda said.

Luz shot her mentor a frown before turning back to her girlfriend. ‘It’s pretty dangerous for you to be up here. How about you get on the staff with us and we’ll take you down?’

‘Oh it’s fine, Luz!’ Amity said cheerfully. ‘I’m not going to stop myself from doing things that feel fun anymore, and _this_ is fun!’

The human’s heart leapt into her mouth as the green-haired girl did a carefree little swing around the spire, almost losing her grip. In her fumble to grab hold again, Amity dropped the binoculars to bounce heavily off the library roof to fall to the ground far below. The witchling looked up from where she’d been watching the binoculars fall, an adrenalin-fuelled cackle sounding from her mouth. Then her eyes widened excitedly as an idea hit her.

‘ _I should shave my head_ …’

‘Amity,’ Luz said reaching out a hand, ‘I’m really scared about you being up here. Please come down with us. We can go back to the Owl House and talk everything through, and… then we can make out as much as you want, I promise.’

Amity eyed Luz’s outstretched hand, and then met her eyes. After seeming to read the concern in the human’s face, she slowly released her grip on the spire with her own hand and reached out. Luz took hold of Amity’s cold fingers, and Eda swung the staff round to let the witchling climb on the back. Luz took Amity’s hands and wrapped them firmly around her waist, feeling the other girl’s head rest against her back with an affectionate sigh. Luz shared a worried glance with Eda before the witch looked forward again and flew them away across the rooftops.

* * *

Amity’s mania had seeped away on the ride to the Owl House, and by the time they had arrived she barely had enough energy to be pulled into the house and up to Luz’s room – she hadn’t even remembered to ask for a scoop on the stairs.

She was now sitting in Luz’s lap with her forehead resting against the other girl’s cheek. Soft, comforting fingers were running through her now-loose hair, the hair tie lying discarded somewhere on the floor. Luz hadn’t said anything since they’d gotten back, only occasionally dropping a kiss on the other girl’s head, and Amity was grateful; she didn’t think she could bring herself to form any more of an explanation right now. She realised this was exactly what she’d pictured them doing by the lake, which partly made her want to cry and partly want to raise her head and kiss Luz back, but she was simply too tired to do either.

‘Bad?’ Luz asked eventually.

Amity nodded into her girlfriend’s cheek. ‘Bad,’ she confirmed.

Luz’s hand ran down the back of Amity’s head onto her neck, and the witchling felt the human’s fingers gently prod down on her skin.

‘Amity, your muscles are _so_ tight,’ Luz said quietly.

‘Mmm,’ Amity replied. There was no flare of indignance or guilt in her belly at the reason _why_ she’d been hunched over a desk almost every moment she’d been awake this week. However taut her muscles were, the mental ribbons that carried orders and information from her brain to and from her body were lax and inactive.

Luz raised her head and lifted the other girl's up to meet her eyes. ‘Would it be okay if I tried to massage them?’

‘Yes please,’ Amity muttered, vaguely noting how such an offer would normally spark a nervous excitement, but there was no energy to spare for that right now. However, she did take the opportunity of having their faces close to lean forward. After a moment of gentle kisses, Luz moved herself out from under Amity and lowered her down onto her sleeping bag, turning her over to lie stomach-down, the witchling’s head turned to the side.

Amity felt Luz’s warm hands begin on her shoulders, the tips of her fingers pushing down against the fabric of her top onto the tight bands underneath her skin. Luz kneaded gently until the muscles had relaxed, and then moved her fingers onto the next cluster. She travelled over both shoulders, and then down one arm – Amity couldn’t help but laugh weakly when Luz picked up her wrist to give her arm a rather active waggle.

‘Hey, it’s a legitimate technique,’ Luz tutted. ‘It’s what my Mom does whenever she has to do physical therapy with someone.’

‘Uh-huh,’ Amity managed, and let Luz carry on squeezing the tension out of her other arm and give it a shake too. Then the human’s hands moved to Amity’s back, finding more tense clusters through her top and applying rhythmic pressure until they’d cleared. Amity sunk into the sleeping bag, letting the weight of Luz’s manipulations push her down against the soft layer between her and the floor. It was incredibly comforting; she pictured herself about to be pushed through a barrier to a realm where she could float, unburdened even by gravity.

After reaching her waist, Luz lifted her hands off the weary girl and then resumed on Amity’s lower legs, just below her knee. Amity kept her eyes closed, focusing on the sensation of the other girl methodically seeking out each bit of tautness and massaging it into submission. After feeling so unnoticed in her toils, the feeling of her girlfriend’s attentions was moulding her soul back into shape just like her muscles. Luz reached Amity’s feet, where she was usually unbearably ticklish, but soon the witchling realised that she wasn’t having any reaction at all to the feeling of firm hands squeezing over her socks. It was like Luz’s touch was as familiar and trusted as her own.

When the human had finished Amity felt like she was made of vapour, only retaining a shape until a breeze came along to disperse her. Luz was now kneeling on the floor stroking a hand over her scalp, the repetitive motion guiding her towards sleep.

‘ _Lovooloose_ ,’ she murmured as she exhaled. Her tethers to the conscious world were drifting away, even the realisation that this was the first time she’d spoken those words aloud to her girlfriend. She just managed to catch Luz’s reply before peaceful slumber overtook her…

‘I love you too.’

* * *

Amity’d had so many consecutive days of waking up tense that when she awoke to find her body relaxed, her sleepy brain leapt to the conclusion that she must have gone back in time to before her difficult week had started. But as her conscious mind rose back above the fog, she recognised the furnishings of Luz’s room and her memories fell back into place. There was still light coming through the window so she could only have been asleep for a couple of hours, but she still couldn’t remember feeling this refreshed in all her life.

She heard the soft clap of a book closing as she sat up, and turned to see Luz sitting against the wall and putting an _Azura_ volume aside. Amity smiled as she realised the other girl must not have wanted to disturb her sleep by cuddling up next to her, but now that she was awake she toddled over on her knees to find the human’s embrace again.

‘How are you feeling?’ Luz asked into her ear.

‘ _Mmmmm_ ,’ Amity replied. The euphoria that had begun after she’d dropped the Painbow-Detector from the balcony was gone, and she had a vague sensation of consequences that needed to be dealt with. But she was able to keep the feeling at bay for now; she’d missed the scent and warmth of Luz in her arms all week, and her mind was completely latched onto the other girl’s presence. ‘I’m sorry for making you scared,’ she said.

Luz hugged her tighter, and Amity thought back to the moments she’d spent clinging to the library’s spire. It had been like she hadn’t been making conscious decisions, enthralled by the loss of control. The idea of the cottage in the woods that had been so tangibly feasible now seemed ridiculous - the restrictions of life, of her parents’ constant vigilance, of reality, had aligned themselves again.

‘I wish there was something I could do to break free, even just a little,’ she whispered.

Luz was silent, and Amity knew the human wouldn’t have the answer. She thought back to her life only weeks before when she didn’t have any support at all, much less a loving girlfriend to help her cope, and felt grateful at least for that.

But then Luz pulled back with a thoughtful expression. ‘Maybe there is something,’ she said.

* * *

Amity looked at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, tilting and turning her head it to get a look from all angles. The excited buzz in her chest was still there from where it had been ever since Luz had made the suggestion, although she could now also see fascination in her own expression. She ran a finger over her jawline, which now looked so different in its new context, and felt Luz lean her head down and plant a kiss on the now-short buzz of brown hair on her scalp.

‘You look so pretty,’ the human whispered, and Amity grinned, pulling the other girl’s hand down to clutch her own.

‘Yep, that’s a bad girl look if ever I’ve seen one,’ Eda added, sweeping the green-and-brown locks scattered over the bathroom floor into a pile. ‘You’ve got me wanting to try it now.’

‘If you do, you’d better give King six weeks’ notice,’ Luz warned.

Amity ran her hand back and forth over her remaining hair, savouring the intriguingly sharp sensation of the short follicles brushing against her palm. Even though the image of her face under a shaved head was totally unfamiliar, the lack of green made something click in her brain and she suddenly recognised the same person she’d been before she’d started dyeing it, before she’d lost Willow and become surrounded by pressure on all sides. It was like she’d unlocked access to feelings and a strength of identity that had been hidden away for years.

She stood from her chair and turned to hug Luz tight. ‘This is _amazing!’_ Amity was giggling joyously, the high almost as intense as when she’d been on the spire. ‘Thank you.’

‘I’m just glad it’s a Sunday and we’re fully stocked,’ Luz said, giving Amity a squeeze back before letting her go and turning to Eda. ‘You did find it, right?’

‘Don’t worry, I’ve got the whole selection.’ Eda was now lifting up the differently-coloured potion bottles that were resting on the top of a side-table. ‘Now Luz, you _said_ seafoam, but even with my old eyes her hair never looked purple to me.’

‘It’s Titansblood,’ Amity corrected.

‘Ah, here we go then.’ Eda picked a bottle with the right shade of liquid that matched Amity’s old hair. ‘Once I sponge some of this on you’ll be back to chin-length within the hour.’ The witch held out a palm towards Amity’s face with her thumb stuck out in an “L” shape, making a mental measurement. ‘About half a cup should do it.’

‘And then whenever you need another release you can come here and shave it all off again,’ Luz smiled. ‘We’ll always have a bottle put aside for you, free of charge.’

‘Well…’ Eda began reluctantly.

Luz shot her mentor a firm glower.

‘Oh come on, she’s so rich!’ the witch protested. ‘It would _barely_ be taking advantage.’

Amity stood and went over to the grey-haired woman, wrapping her arms around her. ‘Thank you Miss Eda,’ she said as sweetly as she could.

Eda let out a long sigh and patted the witchling on the head. ‘You’re welcome.'

The no-longer-green-haired witchling let go and went back to the mirror, admiring her reflection one last time. ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘If it takes an hour let’s get it started now.’

‘Are you sure?’

Amity turned to Luz, frowning at the human’s hesitant tone. ‘What is it?’

‘Well...’ Luz reached up and ran a finger over Amity’s fuzzy scalp, before meeting her eyes with a shy yet curious look. ‘…You did say you wanted to make out…’

Another grin spread across Amity’s face. She took Luz’s hand, and the two girls headed for the door.

‘I’ll just wait here then, shall I?’ Eda huffed. But the departing pair just shot the witch apologetic smiles before excitedly hurrying back to Luz’s room.

* * *

‘So you didn’t do it?’

Professor Viscous was peering over his pince-nez at Amity with an irate glare. But the witchling kept his gaze steadily.

‘That’s right,’ she confirmed.

The Professor waited for an excuse or justification, but Amity remained silent. The magic feeling from the day before hadn’t faded away yet, and she was determined to see this moment through right.

‘Well, that’s very poor form,’ Viscous said, his glare narrowing. ‘I’m disappointed in you, Miss Blight.’

‘Okay.’

Viscous raised an eyebrow, and Amity had to hold back a victorious smile after her acknowledgement. She’d decided when she came into the classroom early that she wouldn’t be rude, and she wouldn’t be confrontational. But she was not going to apologise. The state of Hexside’s reputation was not her responsibility.

Viscous continued peering at her, apparently unused to a student withstanding his withering stare. Amity kept her stance, the feeling of her regrown hair now being fully coloured giving her an extra boost of confidence. Once it became clear that she wasn’t going to become defensive, Viscous let out a sigh.

‘I shall let the Decathlon Committee know that Hexside will not be competing this year,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘And when Boscha returns I will be having a firm conversation with her about her commitments.’

‘Will you also be speaking to Principal Bump?’ Amity asked.

Viscous frowned. ‘Principal Bump?’

‘About reducing my workload, as we discussed.’

Amity kept the Professor’s gaze again, all through the long pause that followed. The beginning of nerves began to tickle in her stomach as he eyed her with an inscrutable expression, but she stood her ground.

‘Yes,’ he confirmed eventually. ‘I will set up a meeting so we can look at relaxing your schedule.’

‘Thank you Professor,’ Amity nodded, and then turned to head over to her desk just as the other students in her class started to file in. As she took her seat it took everything she had to hold back an elated squeal at her success. A proud warmth radiated in her chest at how she’d asserted herself and managed to secure more free hours in the week. While the remaining students took their seats, she risked pulling out her scroll and typing out a quick message to her friends:

_Let’s make it this weekend! ^_^_


End file.
